Note: Stormy Daniels has launched a crowdsourcing campaign to raise money for legal fees in her struggle to tell her story and be fairly paid for t. The crowdsourcing campaign, just announced, has already raised more thank $60,000 in just a few hours. It’s on aside called crowdjustice. I have contributed. You can see it here.

“Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” – Jesus Christ, The New Testament.

I had dinner with a friend recently, and I mentioned that I was fascinated by  Stormy Daniels and her story. I said I believe Ms. Daniels, I respect her, and support her struggle to own and tell her story.

I am following it closely. I think it is important, it was not really about sex and infidelity to me, it was about a number of things:  power, hypocrisy, freedom, courage, bullying, and the long struggle of women to find their voices and speak out, and the sad history of rich men seeking to stifle them.

And I said jokingly at dinner, i would keep following the story until Stormy revealed which magazine our President asked for her to spank him with on his naked butt.

My friend, who I admire much, and who normally has enormous empathy for people, wrinkled her nose at me,  and asked with some skeptcism, “what possible serious issues could Stormy Daniels be raising?”

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When you are a police reporter, as I was, you get to meet all kinds of people, including the “working girls,” as we called them then, prostitutes and porn stars who routinely got arrested when some mayor or police chief evokes Christian virtue or responds to Chamber Of Commerce pressure.

We’ve always needed to protect our children from working girls, but we have no problem exposing them to liars and hypocrites, or sick people with machine guns.

This piety was always about holiness, about “cleaning up the streets” or waging war on porn, which was considered bad for wholesome business and tourism and winked at in the better bars and swanky hotels. Every working girl got busted periodically, it comes with the life.

The working women helped me to understand the great duality of powerful men – these men are always condemning what they themselves do secretly, and are always telling others not to do what they do. They are also hiding what they – the men with money – do all the time.

I came to know many of the prostitutes and porn stars, I covered their arrests and courtroom appearances, especially in Atlantic City and Philadelphia when I worked there covering police and the courts. We trusted one another. I would write about it if anyone mistreated them, and they told me all kinds of secrets I could never have known myself. They seemed to know everything, their “special men” loved to talk in bed. I loved to hear what they said.

These women were often quite understandably jaded, they lived in a world of hypocrisy and harassment. The same men  who arrested them and hauled them off to jail, also called them at night or watched porn in their bars and back rooms and motels. Many of these men were public officials, judges and businessmen, even some clergy,  they loved to condemn pornography and prostitution, the girls often saw them in court wearing robes, or in uniform after hours.

And then there were the rich men, in a category all of their own. The rich men would pay a lot for porn or the services of prostitutes, they could change a girl’s life if they were generous or kind. It was a big score to land a rich man, they often saw them for months, even years, it was either a boon or a nightmare, depending on the man.

I became friends with some of these girls even babysat their children once or twice, in an emergency or while they were waiting for bail, and I occasionally had a drink with the women in a bar. Reporters and prostitutes quite often ended up in the same bar after midnight. Lots of people said there was no difference between prostitutes and reporters. The President of the United States says that all the time.

We shared a distaste for rich old men, I saw one side of them, they saw another, and neither of them were appetizing.

Our friendships were platonic, we never discussed sex or had any.They had their work and I had mine, and we respected each others boundaries.  Some were badly damaged, on drugs, or horribly abused. Others worked the best hotels in Atlantic City or Philadelphia, made good money and lived respectable lives. Some were wonderful mothers, their work was a choice. The same was true with porn stars like Stormy, they were good at it, liked it and were proud of their work.

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These women all had Trump-like clients at one time or another, they never revealed their names, they were possessive about who they called “my rich old men,”  but the details were often the same – most of the men had drivers bring the girls and take them home, luxurious hotels or apartments to meet in. Many liked to be spanked, and had what the girls called “generic,” missionary style sex, and a few liked to be “kinky,” those men had to pay twice as much.

The girls always told me that virile young men didn’t need them, it was the older and married ones that seemed to have special needs.

Almost all of these rich men were married and had children, and many threatened these women with brutal retaliation if they ever revealed the truth. Even then, I could see this was part of a system. If not for men, there would be no prostitutes and little pornography, yet the women were often demonized by the Church, the media, the very men who hired them. The girls were an outlet for them, a way to seem strong and sexual,  a dirty little secret to be used, discarded and paid off. If they broke these rules, they would pay, the rich men all knew other rich men and could afford to hire nasty lawyers and tough guys.

Nobody wanted to mess with them. I suppose they were exploited too.

I had a creepy kind of  window seat on the way rich men treated women, used them, and often scared them half to death or worse when they were done with them, or when their spouses finally caught on and they got caught. They always promised riches and rewards,  especially jobs and money – and they absolutely never kept their promises. The girl friend of the rich man did not have a long tenure, and her existence was always denied.

And until recently, and before no-fault divorces, there was a lot of money at stake if their wives found out. The same was true with politicians, who would go to any lengths to keep their sexual explorations quiet. Exposure was often the end for them.

The wealthy men have a long history of frightening women into silence, and paying them off to be quiet, they call it “hush money.

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I believe Stormy Daniels when she says she doesn’t wish to support that system or enable it any longer.  She is successful and wealthy, she could easily take the money and shut up. And  yes, she admits quite freely she would like to be paid more for her story. I can identify with that, I say the same thing all of the time.

The newly empowered trolls of our political culture have been sending Stormy death threats and calling her a “whore,” to which she memorably responded, “I may be a whore but I am a successful one.”

Even in this year, that is a memorable quote. Stormy Daniels is a person of pride, dignity and authenticity. She knows what she is, and admits what she is, and is proud of what she is.

Like the amazing students from Parkland, she takes the poison and turns it right around and uses it. There is no way Trump or his guard dog lawyer can now win a fight with Stormy Daniels. As Stormy well knows, we live in new and different times. And she has out-Trumped Trump, something many of the most powerful politicians in the country have not yet figured out how to do.

Times change, we have come a long way in some ways, for all of the bad news. Women talk to one another, they have new ways of raising their voices and asking for help.

Women are sick of being treated in this way, and say time is up for the rich and powerful men. Story has declared herself a part of this movement. Some people say she is just out for the money, I can’t speak for her hidden motives. But so what? Most of the rich men are out for nothing but money and gratification and nobody questions their motives.

Stormy knows how to find a good lawyer, play the media, keep her name in the headlines, just like one of her rich men, one if particular. She is his first worthy opponent, she is like a spider in the web, he is all tied up with no good moves to make. He spouts some of the best bullshit in the world, but even his many devoutly religious followers have been tongue-tied by Stormy.

Who cares if Trump had conventional, unremarkable sex with Stormy Daniels? Not me. I do care that he asked her to spank him with a magazine, I want to know which one. I love that detail. It’s an amazing image. The working girls said all the men liked that. I guess I’m just not a normal man.

I asked Maria if she would spank me with a copy of National Geographic, she laughed and said dream on. Go spank yourself, she said.

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Donald Trump is not a victim or an innocent, he is not shy about his alleged sexual prowess.

He has bragged openly and frequently about the size of his hands and penis, and his sexual prowess. He has boasted that he can grab any women’s vagina any time he wants, because he’s a star.

Stormy did not embellish her story or accuse him of brutality. She easily could have.

Her story has always been consistent – the meet in a bungalow in Beverly Hills sex was “generic” and “ordinary” for a man his age (ouch!), and when he greeted her in his pajamas, she asked him to get dressed, and he did. She has never talked about the size of his penis, but he has and on national television.

Something to look forward to.

This rich old man – Donald Trump – was a lot nicer than Harvey Weinstein or Matt Lauer, according to Stormy. I have this strange feeling if Stormy has said he was a stud with a foot-long penis, he would have been happy for her to tell her story to the world.

That is always the way he described himself on Howard Stern’s show or anywhere else. He never wanted to keep is sex life a secret, he called up New York reporters in disguise and bragged about it. Why should Stormy be bought off for a measly $130,000. Her story is her life, and it is worth a lot more. I sure want to hear it.

Stormy Daniels is perhaps the first person in public life who has outfoxed Trump, an extremely powerful and vindictive rich man,  and put him into a corner. The strange truth, is she is very much like him, although much more honest and authentic. She doesn’t need to make her story any bigger than it is, she just wants the same right we all have, to tell it. Or sell it.

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There is no win for him here, Stormy has already mopped up the floor with him, like Muhammed Ali’s rope-a-dope. If he threatens her or silences her, she will become a martyr and legend, a working girl picked on by a man with unimaginable power.

If he sues her or punishes her for speaking, he will have to admit that they had an affair to protect. Her story will be affirmed in one way or another, she will find a  way to get it out. Like him, she plays the press like a maestro. Every few days, she pops up like the Loch Ness Monster, just like he does. They seem to be dancing together.

If he doesn’t back down, all those steamy texts and videos and stories will come leaking out,  and probably make millions of dollars on the way. And make news for months. He can’t want that.  If he can’t win, she can’t lose.

The media and many politicians have  been trashing Stormy Daniels. The President’s Pit Bull lawyer – he loves to bully and threaten –   admits he paid Stormy  $130,000 in what she calls “hush money” to never speak of the affair which did not occur. He says it was his own money and President Trump knew nothing about it. Of course, thanks for sharing.

Stormy has realized,  she says, that her story is worth a lot more money than that now that her rich man lover is President of the United States.  Compared to the book deals and bookings awaiting her, $130,000 is little more than a tip, if you’re a billionaire.

She is fighting against a system that victimizes women and takes away a precious freedom – our ownership of our stories. I hope she wins. She deserves to win.

Stormy Daniels says that she no longer wants to acquiesce in the ancient system in which men cheat on their families, or abuse and  harass women and intimidate or bribe  them into silence.  That’s how they get to keep doing it. Stormy says she will not be afraid. She doesn’t want her story to end up in some lawyer’s file. That is not what women are about these days, and that doesn’t work for Stormy any longer.

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Then there is this.

Mr. Trump, like so many other rich men who have used working girls, claims to be a profoundly religious, even born-again man. Christians and evangelicals who preach morality and God and invoke Jesus seem to know or care little about him. He would not be standing with them, he would be standing with Stormy. if you read any of the things attributed to him, that is crystal clear.

I do read about Jesus regularly, he is an inspiration and guide to me.

People who call Stormy a whore and condemn her as fake and money-grubbing best read Luke7:36-50, “Jesus Anointed By A Sinful Woman.”

it is the story of Simon, one of the Pharisees,  invited Jesus to have dinner with him. A woman in that town who “lived a sinful life” came to see  him with a jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her fair, kissed them, and poured perfume on them. The Pharisee protested, saying if Jesus knew who was touching him, that she was a sinner, he would cast her out of the house.

Jesus answered, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “you did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time i entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven – as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

I am fond of this parable, it reminds me to be humble, and  respect the dignity and hard choices of others. It cautions me that people who can’t be forgiving can’t know love.  Stormy Daniels has made her way in the world as best she can,  she has directed and produced 17 different films. She deserves to share or sell her truthful story to the world if she wishes, and break the awful system that silences women who have been used and mistreated or abused.

Christ would not have turned his back on a prostitute, or persecuted her. Forgiveness is a value shared by every great religion on the earth. It is not a gift, but a moral and spiritual obligation.

I am sorry to hear any woman say there are no serious issues involve in her willingness to stand up to the most powerful rich old man on the earth and refuse to be silence or intimidated.

Stormy is a brave woman, she speaks for all of the working girls and for all they have suffered at the hands of arrogant and greedy men. She is  breaking ground, doing something very few people, male or female, have ever done: tell their stories to a listening world.

There are not too many issues more serious than that.

P.S. The magazine Story Daniels spanked Donald Trump with on his bare butt was Forbes. What else?

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